


The Horizon

by Chionee



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Alternate Universe - World War I, Happy Ending, Kinda Fluffy, M/M, Post WWI, a little bittersweet, light depiction of PTSD, mentions of panic attack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-31
Updated: 2019-07-31
Packaged: 2020-07-28 04:20:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 804
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20057908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chionee/pseuds/Chionee
Summary: And then, there was the horizon, blue. Blue like the uniform, blue like the fear, blue like a trauma.A cursed blue.Sequel toThe Chemin des Damesby MaeLovesStories.





	The Horizon

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Chemin des Dames](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20043637) by [MaeLovesStories](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MaeLovesStories/pseuds/MaeLovesStories). 

> Hello! This is a sequel to The Chemin des Dames by MaeLovesStories, that I loved and recommend.
> 
> I loved it so much I couldn't help but write a sequel to it, and here it is. I obviously posted it with the original writer's consent.
> 
> If you haven't read The Chemin des Dames, I recommend you to do so before reading this.
> 
> Enjoy your reading!

The blue seemed lighter, softer for a short while. Colors had somewhat regained their liveliness, but never like before. Sanji didn’t expect them to return to what they were of long ago, he had long given up on this frivolous hope. Nevertheless, he acknowledged the landscape was more pleasant to the eyes.

The beach was helping. The fine sand that was creamy yellow was giving some brightness to this place. The dark waves were strikingly contrasting with the tiny grains. And then, there was the horizon, blue. Blue like the uniform, blue like the fear, blue like a trauma. The blue soiled by the mud and the blood, drenched in cold sweat or rain. A dirty blue.

A cursed blue.

For a long time, Sanji had been incapable of looking at the horizon without thinking of this uniform that had accompanied him for almost four long years, whose persistent touch was sticking to his skin like a camisole which he could never get rid of. The view of the hue and the thought of the name made the bile and the memories resurface so quick it made him feel dizzy. _Horizon_. Infamous horizon.

The only thing that made him keep his head on his shoulders had been the presence, which he knew to be reliable, of Zoro. Without being able to explain it, this man had become a reason to live, to survive in the trenches. If it hadn’t been for him, Sanji would have certainly let himself waste away more than once. With this promise to get through all of that, they both had pushed their limits for a future that had seemed impossible to reach back then.

The sound of the waves crashing on wet sand was pleasant. It was the first thing Sanji liked upon discovering the coast. The seagulls’ cries blended well with the sea’s one, and the marine salt had a distinctive odor that could appease his panic attacks when reminiscences of battles that looked more like death sentences than anything else burst like artillery shells in his mind.

A hand slipped softly in his, and he squeezed it without darting his eyes away from the horizon. The warmth of the palm was welcoming, and Sanji couldn’t help but lean toward the body to which it belongs. The hand withdrew to settle on his waist, drawing him into an even more comfortable and warm embrace.

Forced to look away from the horizon, he buried his face against Zoro’s shoulder, who held him a bit tighter. Sanji felt he was trembling a little under his fingers; a tremor which wasn’t due to the cool of the evening. Bringing a hand to his nape, he petted his hair whilst murmuring sweet nothings in a hope to calm the trauma.

They stayed there until the sun was eating the horizon, tainting the sky with bright orange. Sanji liked sunsets. They took away the horizon blue that challenged him each day and gave him some semblance of victory to the young man. A small victory over the war and memories. A step ahead toward the life of long ago.

A deep sigh lifted Zoro’s shoulders when the calm eventually overcame him and Sanji authorized himself to raise his head to look at him in the eyes. His fingers traced his throat and jaw with calculated slowness. The tiny scars that were chiseling his skin didn’t go unnoticed under his touch, but Sanji never lingered on them. He had a lot of them himself, maybe too much for his comfort, and had learned to ignore their sight and feeling.

Zoro’s eyes were burning, like the ones of a man who was still at war. Sanji knew his wrath wasn’t directed to anyone in particular, but it sometimes made him shiver to understand that his mind was still in the mud and the bombs, trapped inside makeshift trenches.

Without a word, he tilted Zoro’s head forward until he could leave on his newly closed eyelids two kisses that he wanted to be appeasing. Zoro kept his eyes shut for a moment, seemingly savoring the particular contact before a thin smile, almost hesitant, made his way on his lips.

At the sole view of the peaceful joy that was appearing on Zoro’s face, Sanji forgot the war and the horizon blue and couldn’t help but smile in turn, letting the fresh and salty air of the sea take away the troubles and doubts, if only for one moment.

They walked hand in hand on their way back to the little cottage that were accommodating them, the now cold sand tickling their feet and the sound of waves diminishing in the distance. Both men knew they had a long way to go, this time metaphoric. A way that, in the end, would bring them past the horizon.

**Author's Note:**

> Kudos and reviews are appreciated <3
> 
> You can check my [tumblr](https://chioneesglasses.tumblr.com/).


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